1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to integrated circuit design, and more particularly to signal path optimization.
2. Description of the Related Art
Signal paths on integrated circuits can in many cases be routed through various cones of logic. In addition, various ones of these signals may have a large fan-in or a large fanout. Depending on how large the fan-out, it may be difficult to meet the timing requirements of the particular circuit. This may be particularly true for signals that are common to many parts of the integrated circuit.
More particularly, some signals may inadvertently be redundant in a design. For example, there are cases in which a signal may feed into a cone of logic that leads to a clocked storage or state element such as a flip-flop, for example. This same signal may also be used to gate the clock to the flip-flop. The signal path for that signal through the cone of logic may form a redundant path. This is sometimes referred to as a self-gating signal. This type of redundant path is not easily detectable by conventional design tools. These redundant signals can be problematic particularly when the have a large fanout.